Fiscal Hawks For Obama

Politics aside, the outlines of a long-term budget fix are easy to discern. Once the economy is strong enough to grow unassisted, Washington needs to adopt a range of spending cuts and revenue increases. Everything should be up for discussion: changes to the income-tax code, entitlement reform, restructuring the Pentagon, higher energy taxes, consumption taxes. Everything. Or close to it. But when, last summer, President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner tried to take some baby steps in this direction, Ryan helped sabotage their efforts. Now that he is on the national ticket—the third Republican Vice-Presidential candidate in a row from the right flank of the Party—what hope is there that a President Romney will face down the G.O.P. ultras and do what the country so evidently needs? And if there isn’t any prospect of this happening why should moderates and independents vote for Romney?